Collecting Vintage Acoustic Guitars

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At one time or another in our lives we fancy being a professional musician. We are proud to play riffs of Led Zeppelin’s Stairway To Heaven even if we can’t finish the whole song.

We love playing our guitars and for some reason we like to collect them as well.. Acoustic guitar collection is still in its early stage but it has been already been heralded as a work of fine art.

Guitars made before World War 2 are considered the most desirable and collectible and goes without saying, fetch in very high prices. Guitars made from various manufacturers such Martin, Gibson, Lyn and Healy and Larson Brothers are the most sought after.

Martin’s flat top steel string guitars are superb in craftsmanship and sound. The earliest models were made during 1840’s to 1920’s. But the most collectible are the 12 and 14 fret steel string models made from the middle of 1920’s to 1944. The playability, sound and workmanship are very excellent.

What is considered the golden era of the flat top Martin guitars are the larger size, 14 fret 000 and "D" sizes from the 1930’s. In fact, The Martin D-45 which was custom made for Gene Autry commands very stratospheric price.

The most desirable when it comes to Martin body size is the 000, OM and D sizes. If you have a Martin guitar check the serial number inside and just above it the style and body size number. Make sure the original parts are still intact and no modifications on the bridge, tuners and frets. These factors affect the value of the guitar.

When it comes to the brand Gibson, archtops are the most collectible. Well they invented the archtop guitar so why wouldn’t they lead the pack? The most desirable and collectible are the larger models made from the early 1930’s to 1959 namely The Lloyd Roar signed L-5’s, the pre war Super 400, Advanced L-5 archtops and the Cut away archtop models from the 1946 to 1959.

Unlike paintings, guitars are usable collections. You don’t have to be CEO of a Fortune 500 company to be able to start collecting vintage acoustic guitars. And while you’re at it, it doesn’t hurt if you could strum and hum puff the magic dragon….

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Collecting Crate Labels

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The hobby of collecting crate labels started in the sixties. People directly involved with the packing plants started the craze. Maybe because they just don’t want to see unused labels thrown away or just rut inside the label storage room.

The crate labels were mostly found on warehouses, packing plants, patent offices and the printing houses itself because they usually kept a copy of their work as a sample. Today, you can get it from mostly and conveniently on the internet like ebay, or other collectors.

The beauty of this small vintage art just look so beautiful with all the bright colors and vividly depicting any kind of themes such as sports, birds, romantic and nostalgic sceneries, the pets and children of the farm owners who custom made their labels when family farms were prevalent at that time.

Since the advent of the corrugated cardboard boxes and packing plants mushroomed just about everywhere, the use of wooden crates for fruits and family farm labels declined.

The crate labels of yore all had different kinds of colors, shades and hues. No two brands of crate labels looked alike.

They made their own ink, which supposed to be a trade secret. The sizes of their crate labels also varies depending of course the sizes of the crates. Like cherries only need a small crate so, they used smaller crate labels as supposed to oranges that needed bigger crates. It did not even have so much text on it.

If you want to start collecting these beauties start with what you like. I think that would be self- explanatory. I mean you wouldn’t want to be surrounded by things you don’t like do you? You can shell out a small amount of money for what is considered a vintage art.

The hobby doesn’t need that much investment. That’s one nice about this pursuit. You can also branch out to collecting can labels, cigar box labels or even vintage advertisement.

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Collecting Yo-yos

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My first encounter with a foreign yo-yo demonstrator was way back in high school. This was in the late seventies. Coca Cola sponsored the event. The demonstrator was Mexican and I remember quite vividly after he performed the usual tricks like around the world, walking the dog and rocking the baby, he showed his very own tricks.

He called it the "spaghetti" he tangled up the strings like a spaghetti, and kind of made a slurping motion with his mouth and there went the string untangled and the yoyo still spinning went right back to his hand.

For his finale, he did a couple of throws, up in the air and then swiftly and skillfully slipped the string knot off his finger and let the yo-yo on perfect cue, amazingly dropped into his left breast pocket. I was totally blown away. His expertise with the yo-yo, such a mundane toy but considered a cultural icon, enabled him to travel around the globe.

Of course the yo-yos of today are not the kind we knew back then. Transaxle ball bearing yo-yos are the crème de la crème, the top of the heap when it comes to yo-yo performance. The "sleep" time (spinning freely) is longer thus you will be able to perform tricks easily as opposed to the traditional fixed axle yo-yos.

Examples of these are Turbo Bumblebee, the Viper and Cold Fusion. They fetch in higher prices naturally but you will be surely the envy of the gang if you own one of these babies.

Yo-yo contests attract enthusiasts and collectors alike. There is a growing demand for collectible yo-yos and other yo-yo related memorabilia such as string packages, award patches, old contest fliers, manufacturer sales catalogs, old trick books and limited edition yo-yos. Yo-yos are also highly cross-collectable.

There are yo-yos with cereal, cartoon character, advertising such as coke and souvenir designs on it.

The highest price ever paid for a single yo-yo was the Pres. Richard Nixon signed yoyo for $16,029.00. And the first flown yo-yo into outer space is the yellow plastic Duncan Imperial this happened in April 12, 1983.

Companies that produced excellent yo-yos are Duncan, Russell, Spintastics, Superyo, Tom Kuhn, Yomega. Bird In Hand, Chico, Hi-ker. Most desirable and collectible yo-yos are usually from the 50’s and 60’s with such names like Litening, Rainbow, Chief, Suede, Day-Glo and Satellite.

Yo-yo is definitely a toy that has survived time and it will be absolutely continue to be played in years to come.

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Collecting Cameos

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Cameos are like miniature sculptures but only carve on the front side called relief. The first known cameos were used as ceremonial clothing by emperors, used as seals, as adornment in helmets, breastplates, swords and some were used by members of the clergy.

The carvings usually depicted profiles of beautiful women, (this is the most popular motif) mythological and biblical themes, and heroes and rulers of a particular period. Cameos usually have contrast in colors, like darker background and lighter foreground.

Cameos are carve in hardstones which a term for gemstone or semi precious stones like amethyst, emerald, ruby, opal, opaque stones such as agate, carnelian , onyx etc. and some are carve in conch shells and corals. Out of 100,000 species of sea shells only about six species are perfectly suited for cameos.

The popularity of cameos surged in early nineteenth century when cameos are mounted on gold, silver or other metals and became fashionable pieces of jewelry such as brooches, necklaces, tiaras, bracelets and earrings.

The more colors a certain shell or hardstone may project the more valuable the cameo is. If the cameos depicted two carvings from one single stone, the more valuable it is. As opposed to two carvings but made from two different stones and you see evident of glue in between then the carvings are definitely a poor attempt at faking it.

Using a magnifying glass, look for chips and cracks on the cameos for it will lessen the value of it. Make sure the cameos are mounted on the original settings or frame. If the demand outstrip the supply, expect fakes and forgeries all over. Asia is now a hub for manufacturing cheaper cameos made of plastic and resin, because it has a shell-like feel to it. Do a hot needle test, if it melts then it plastic.

Cameos carved in hardstones requires more skill and adeptness, they are more durable compared to shells and corals. They are most likely the type of cameos that can be pass on to the next generations therefore hardstone carved cameos are more expensive.
Famous collectors of cameos are Pope Paul ll and Napoleon Bonaparte.

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Collecting Teddy Bears

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The appeal of the teddy bear is universal. That is why both young and old collect them. Teddy Bear signifies unconditional love and acceptance.

The teddy bear dates back 1902 when President Theodore Roosevelt went to Mississippi to settle a border dispute between Mississippi and Louisiana, the host offered the president to shoot the tired little bear tied to a tree. President Roosevelt refused to shoot the bear considered it to be unsportsmanlike.

That good deed towards the bear drew national attention, especially when the Washington Post pblished a cartoon by Clifford Berryman depicting the President and the bear.

An enterprising couple by the name of Morris and Rose Michtom banked on the national interest and made the first stuffed bear and called it Teddy’s Bear with the permission of Pres. Teddy Roosevelt of course and displayed it in their stationery store. The teddy bears sold like hot cakes, thus the first manufacturing company called Ideal Novelty and Toy Company was born.

Some unexplainable synchronicities occurred in the other continent, a German fellow designed and made his first teddy bear. But Europeans were not as crazy for teddy bears as Americans did at that time.

During a fair in Europe an American businessman bought 3,000 teddy bears and brought them to America and sold out the whole stocks. It was the start of European market for teddy bears.

American made teddy bears are slimmer, more spindly. The stitches are looser. While the European made are stockier, the snout longer, and the stitches are tighter thus command higher prices. In today’s world it is customary for companies to outsource their production in Asia because the labor cost is cheaper, so many toys like teddy bears are now manufactured in Asia and very much less costly.

Artist-made teddy bears are totally the "in" thing when it comes to teddy bears. They are handmade, designed and made by the industry’s finest artists, the fur is expensive like mohair and eyes and buttons made of gems. The price for these bears are also expensive.

Look for bears that came from Gund, Knickerbocker, Steiff, Bing and Farnell. Make sure you research and talk with a reputable toy dealer before embarking on buying vintage teddy bears. Let investment be the last of your criteria when buying, the first is you must have genuine like for your teddy bear collection.

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Collecting Glass Bottles

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Collecting glass bottles has a vast scope. As always you need to collect thematically or to just plainly specialized.

One interesting glass bottle collectible is the Codd glass bottle sometimes know as pinchneck which designed and patented by Hiram Codd in 1872.

Another interesting glass bottle collectible is the bitters bottles. They came in wide variety of shapes and sizes and dated back 18th century in Great Britain and mid 19th century in the U.S.A.

Bitters are originally a form of medicine for indigestion. It consisted of angostura and citrus peel infused in alcohol and flavored with cinnamon, juniper and cloves.

The popularity of the bitters in both Britain and U.S can only be summed up in one word : alcohol. All the while enjoying the intoxicating effect people in those days thought they were doing it for medicinal purposes.

Bitters bottles came in variety of shapes like barrels, lighthouses, cannons and several other shapes. The bottles were in amber, clear and mostly greens and the more rare ones are in blue, amethyst and puce.

Another worthwhile collectibles are medicine bottles in the Victorian-Edwardian era. And some other medicine bottles had labels that are exotic, showing oriental scenes ornate or bizarre designs

Ink bottles are also collectible, although they were made for practical purposes not just merely ornamental.

The picture above is a bitters bottle.

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Collecting Cigarette Cards

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Cigarette cards evolve form an earlier tradition of trade cards. Trade card was a sort of a business card back in the old days. It consisted of the names, addresses and advertisements of commercial companies.

Cigarette cards were used to stiffen the American paper cigarette packets.

The popularity of cigarette cards took off right around the 1880’s when chromolithography was applied to pictures.

But the production of cigarette cards peaked during 1920-40. Collecting investors no doubt would hunt for cigarette cards in this era. The most expensive sets would come from this particular period.

The reason being, there were many, many smaller cigarette companies as oppose to today’s tobacco giant companies, thus each of these smaller companies produced their own garden variety of cigarette cards.

The most expensive sets are from the smallest companies.

You can pick up incomplete sets for less prices but you just going to have to do individual hunt for the missing pieces to complete your set.

During the end of the first world war, several large tobacco consortiums were formed consequently putting the smaller companies out of business, thus the production of the cigarette cards began to decline.

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" Give Pez A Chance”

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Trivia: Ebay was founded because the founder Peirre Omidyar’s partner needed a venue to buy and sell her collection of pez dispensers.

Pez comes from the German word for pfefferminz which means peppermint. Pez candy dates back in 1927. They were first marketed as adult mints for people trying to quit smoking. In the today’s world of Altoids and Tic Tac, pez got there first.

Pez were originally sold in small tin boxes. But right around 1950’s the pez dispenser were invented. They were created originally for truck drivers so they could easily pop a candy into their mouths while driving.

After the second World War pez dispensers came out with character heads, this time to specifically target their market: children. The first character heads for pez dispensers was Mickey Mouse in all different versions. Then came out later many other designs for heads like Zorro, Captain Hook, Santa Claus etc.

Baby boomers are also buying pez dispensers because of nostalgic factors. They want to collect something from their memories of happy childhood.

Most expensive pez dispenser ever held in an auction was The Astronaut B pez with white helmet and green stem which had a winning bid for $32,205.00. There are two of them in fact, the other one has blue helmet with blue stem.

They were made as prototypes for supposedly a joint venture deal but the negotiation didn’t’ came through, so there were no mass production that occurred. So that makes the Astronaut B pez dispenser rare.

Another rare pez dispenser was the do-it-yourself that comes in different parts(eyes, nose, ears etc. ) to make your own face, but the manufacturer thought it was dangerous for children under 12 so they discontinued the production.

The do-it-yourself

Pez dispensers are sold as much as $5,000 a piece.

A lot of pez dispensers that didn’t sell were taken off the market back in those days. They were originally sold for a quarter now commands a two to three thousand dollar price tag like the Mary Poppins pez dispensers.

Today lots of people collect the battery operated dispensers, the value would even more appreciate if they keep the boxes that they come in.
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